The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-06-12
ABOLISHING PASSES.
Opinion of a Railroad Official on
the Result.


The Columbus, Ohio, correspondent
OF the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette
points out some curious results of
abolishing passes. He says: "Only one
road has sweepingly and rigidly en-
forced the abolition of passes. Most of
the roads all over the country are
letting things run on much the same as
ever. The officials declare that though
the pass system is in many respects a
bad one, yet in the end it is to the ad-
vantage of the railroads, and they
make by it more than they lose. The
railroads are especially reluctant to
dlsturbe the pass system so far as it
relates to law makers and newspapers.
The publication of the time-card and
the good will of newspaper are worth
enormously more to the railroad than
what little use is made of pass by the
paper; and everybody knows what
tremendous effect the possession of an
annual pass and the proud privilege of
riding free and haughtily displaying his
pass 10 the humble conductor has upon
the average legislator"
Senator Cullom declared in an inter
view just after the inter state commerce
law passed that there was nothing in
the bill 10 prevent the railroads from
issuing passes, and it was not intended
theirs should be. But the Pennsylvania
system decided to decide differently
and work an enormous reform. They
decided not only to abolish all special
rates, but to wipe every pass out of ex-
istence. 1t is said they had out 10000
NJ oil
passes for rights of way and so on down
to special trip passes for female friends
and the like of that. 1t was a great
and growing evil, and the managers
took advantage of the inter state COM
merce law to eradicate it at one full
sweep of the knife. This was heroic
treatment. If you try to slice out a
tumor of long growth with one whack
of bush hook there are liable to be
bad results.
From the long talk l had with a
| Pennsylvania officer l Judge that the
Pennsylvania company are pretty sick
OF their experiment already, and that
the abolition of passes is costing them
heavily, so that tits not the people but
| the railroad which is inclined to squeal.
| Several other things not strictly taken
into calculation have happened. To
| OCSl4 WILL LILO dOIlIOIS OIL buIOuRA
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, as soon as
their passes was taken away, suddenly
conceived a very exalted idea of the
value of the road and property of the
Pennsylvania company. and that COM
pany found that under the new ap-
praisemenE it had to pay $50 COO more
taxes this year than ever before, and
what the gentleman who have been de-
priVed of their passes will do next year
in appraising the value OF the COM
pany's property for taxes the Lord only
knows. They will be sure to make it
high enough, and legislature without
passes will be sure to lend hand if IN
any way they can do so in making the
railroad pay into the treasures OF the
States as much as possible.
Again, the auditors and treasurers all
through the counties in Ohio, Indiana
and illinois have, since their passes
were taken away, begun to adhere
| rigidly 10 the strict letters of the law in
their dealings with the company 70 the
| great 4.-hOj duCe and expense of the
! latter There used I, Uo several little
matters of comfy and amity in re
| ceiYing and receipting OF takes, making
out papers, etc. that saved the ccm-
pany much trouble and CLERK hire.
Again the newspapers have all be-
come very cold-blooded and painfully
truthful in reporting accidents of all
kinds upon the road and there is less OF
| entente cOrdiGle between the newspaper |
and railroad men that has always been |
evident in the journals. You don't see
so much about the "gentlemanly and |
efficient ticket agent" the ''oId and |
popular conductor" ETC. as you did. |
The thing is down to q business basis |
where it ought to have been long ago, |
but the people who are the holders of |
passes are not getting the worst of if,
contrary to what would have been ex-l
pected. and the expeaience OF the Penn.
sylvania road under the new arrange
ment shows that instead of the pass
system being system of biood-suchng
Of the roads, as has been claimed, was
probably in the long run made of
pecuniary advantage 70 the roads. The
official talked with said this was 8
70